Board agrees to quick fix for Pala medical services

FALLBROOK -- A 60-day contract to provide full-time emergency
medical services on the Pala Indian reservation was approved by
North County Fire Protection District directors during a special
meeting Wednesday morning.

Approved 4-1, with Director Frank Adams casting the dissenting
vote, the agreement will solve the reservation's immediate medical
needs while a final contract agreement is hammered out, said fire
district Division Chief Charlie Glasgow. The contract takes effect
Jan. 1.

Tribal leader Robert Smith of the Pala Band of Mission Indians
said he requested the temporary solution to get his reservation
additional medical coverage. Smith did not attend the meeting.

"Pala feels that since this is slowing down, Robert Smith wants
a method to expedite an emergency medical service to his area right
away," Glasgow said.

Smith has said he has every intention of reaching a long-term
agreement with the North County Fire Protection District.

The temporary contract requires the tribe to pay the district
$39,000, or $650 for each day of service. After 60 days, the
agreement could be extended if a longer term contract is not
reached by that time.

Under the agreement, the district will provide the Pala
reservation with an ambulance staffed by paramedics, who also serve
as firefighters, out of temporary living quarters at the Pala
Reservation Fire Department, which has firefighters and emergency
medical technicians but does not have any of the more highly
trained paramedics. Additionally, Pala agreed to allow its
firefighters to be employed by the district on a part-time basis
during the life of the contract.

The district will pay Pala firefighters $240 per 24-hour shift.
Those employed by the district must obtain an ambulance driver's
license before employment.

The full contract, slated for a two-year trial, could double the
amount of overtime now earned each year by the district's 18
firefighter-paramedics. They now earn an average of $13,000 per
year in overtime pay. Firefighter-paramedics work 10 regular shifts
a month in 24-hour cycles.

Installing an on-site trailer and ambulance will require the
district's firefighter-paramedics and one reserve to take turns
staffing the post around the clock. The tribe will cover the fuel
costs, while the district pays for the actual housing.

The district operates five stations serving Fallbrook, Bonsall
and Rainbow and provides service on a fee basis to De Luz and the
Pala reservation.

It has provided medical service to the reservation on a per-call
basis for 50 years out of Station 4. The district made about
$185,000 providing medical services last year. The proposed
long-term contract would net the fire district a profit of $76,000
a year.

If the tribe and fire district fail to reach a long-term deal,
officials from the Valley Center Fire Protection District have said
they would provide medical coverage on the reservation.

Smith has said reservation population growth and added traffic
since the tribe opened the Pala Casino in April has led to the need
for a constant presence of emergency medical staffing.